What is CIBIL and its role in the Borrowing Process?

TransUnion CIBIL Limited, commonly known as CIBIL, is the leading credit information company (credit bureau) in India. The key function of CIBIL is to provide a credit report and credit score for individuals and credit rank for companies, which are the decisive factors in getting new credit applications approved. 

In the following sections, we will discuss key details about CIBIL and its role in the borrowing process.

What is the Role of CIBIL in the Lending Process?

CIBIL is authorized to collect credit data and generate credit reports for both individuals as well as companies. These reports play a key role in the approval of applications for new credit such as loans and credit cards. The details of this process are as follows:

• Banks and financial institutions such as NBFCs submit their credit data (individual as well as company) i.e. outstanding loan amount, repayment trends, new loan/credit card applications etc. on a monthly basis to CIBIL
• TransUnion CIBIL collates this data and uses it to generate credit reports for individuals that include CIBIL Score as well as credit reports for businesses that contain CIBIL Rank
• Lenders can check the CIBIL report as well as the CIBIL Score/CIBIL Rank to evaluate the risk of lending to applicants and accordingly approve or reject new loan/credit card applications

Suggested Read: Reasons for Rejection of your Credit Card Application

How to Check CIBIL Score through Paisabazaar for Free

To check your free CIBIL Score through Paisabazaar simply follow the steps given below:

Step 1: Click here to get free credit score

Step 2: Enter your details and verify using OTP authentication

Step 3: Click on the ‘Get Your Credit Score’ button to know your credit score

Step 4: Select CIBIL score, choose the language and month and click on the ‘Download’ button to download your CIBIL report

Step 5:Your Date of Birth (DDMMYYYY format) is the password of your CIBIL report

Note: if you find any discrepancy in your credit report, you can raise a dispute with CIBIL. However, for any other query, you can contact creditreport@paisabazaar.com

Also Read: 10 Easy Steps to Improve your Credit Score?

Components of CIBIL Report

Following are the various components of CIBIL report:

• CIBIL Score: This is the first section of the CIBIL report that features a 3-digit number ranging between 300 and 900 which sums up your credit history
• Personal Information: This section contains your name, gender, date of birth, and identification numbers such as passport number, PAN, etc.
• Contact Information: Your address(s) and telephone numbers are provided in this section
• Account Information: This part of the CIBIL credit report contains information about your current as well as previous loans and credit cards, your outstanding balance, overdue amount, loan amount, credit card limit, etc.
• Enquiry Information: Whenever you apply for a credit card/loan, the lender requests CIBIL for a copy of your credit information report (CIR). Such a request made by the lender is called an enquiry. This section of the CIR contains details of the credit application, amount and dates when such enquiries were made along with the name of the financial institution that made the enquiry.

Thus, the CIBIL credit report basically provides a detailed historic record of how an individual has handled debt in the past. Please note that the credit report does not include details of an individual’s investment or savings.

What is CIBIL Rank?

CIBIL also generates credit rank for businesses. CIBIL rank serves as a numeric summary of the details included in a CIBIL Company Credit Report (CCR). Key features of CIBIL Rank include:

• It varies on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is considered the best rank
• Currently, CIBIL rank is only provided for businesses with a credit exposure of Rs. 10 lakhs to Rs. 50 crores

As CIBIL rank indicates a company’s past handling of credit, it can significantly affect the chances of getting a new loan sanctioned. The closer a company’s CIBIL rank is to 1, the higher are the chances of getting approved for a new loan.

CIBIL Customer Care

• CIBIL Helpline Number for consumers is (+91) 22-614-043-00. This helpline number is operational from 10:00 AM to 06:00 PM (Monday- Friday)
• Fax: (+91)22-66384666
• You can also write to CIBIL at its registered address. The address is:

TransUnion CIBIL Limited
One World Centre, Tower 2A, 19th Floor,
Senapati Bapat Marg, Elphinstone Road,
Mumbai – 400 013

Frequently Asked Questions

Q.What is CIBIL Self Service Portal?

You can avail various services of TransUnion CIBIL by creating ‘myCIBIL Account’ which provides access to the CIBIL self-service portal that include services like checking CIBIL score, viewing/downloading CIBIL credit report, initiating correction of report errors through CIBIL dispute resolution.

Q.How long does CIBIL keep an individual’s credit history records?

CIBIL maintains a record of your credit history for at least 7-10 years.

Q.Is CIBIL score only applicable in India?

Yes, CIBIL score is only applicable in India as it is generated on the basis of data provided by Indian lenders only.

Q.Does TransUnion CIBIL have a mobile application in India?

No, TransUnion CIBIL does not have a mobile application for India. However, partners of CIBIL, such as Paisabazaar.com, have mobile apps through which you can check your credit report and score for free with monthly updates on email and WhatsApp.

Q.Does CIBIL publish a willful defaulter list?

No, CIBIL does not publish a willful defaulter list. Rather individual banks and RBI provide a list of the borrowers who have failed to repay the loan despite their capacity to do so. However, CIBIL does maintain a database of cases that contains suit filed cases and non-suit filed cases, where a lender can search for a willful defaulter.

Q.How often do banks submit data to CIBIL?

Banks and other financial institutions submit customer data regarding loans and credit cards on a monthly basis to CIBIL.

Q.Can my records be altered or deleted by CIBIL?

No, CIBIL does not change or delete the records of your credit history. It just collects data from its member financial institutions and evaluates it to generate a credit information report and credit score.

Q.What does credit score of ‘NA/NH’ mean?

CIBIL Score of NA/NH stands for not applicable/no history. It simply means one of the following:

• Your credit history is too short or does not exist at all
• You have not been associated with any credit activity in the last 2 years
• You have add-on credit cards only and thus lack credit exposure

Please note credit score of ‘NA/NH’ does not indicate a poor credit history. However, it may decrease the chances of getting a loan sanctioned by some lenders as the risk of lending to you cannot be estimated by prospective lenders.

Q.How often is CIBIL Score updated?

Lenders send out credit data of their customers to CIBIL every month, hence CIBIL score may get updated once every month. So, it is highly recommended to check your credit score regularly. To know why, click here.

Q.Can I get a loan with a low CIBIL score?

Yes. You may still get a loan with low CIBIL score as long as you meet the other eligibility criteria specified by the lender. However, you may have to pay a higher interest rate or receive a lower loan amount.